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Zambia’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has arrested and charged two officials from the Ministry of Education in Mkushi District and two bank employees over alleged corruption involving more than K100,000.
Those arrested are Patrick Nkhuwa, a district planning officer, and Nakeempa Okello, an accounts assistant at the Mkushi District Education Board Secretary (DEBS) office.
Also charged are Joseph Mwape and Dennis Charles Baines, employees at a named bank in Mkushi.
ACC Acting Head of Corporate Communications Chilufya Chisanga confirmed the arrests in a statement issued in Lusaka on Monday.
Nkhuwa, 40, of the High Cost area, and Okello, 45, of the Farmers Training Centre (FTC) area in Mkushi District, have been jointly charged with one count of abuse of authority of office by a public officer, contrary to Section 21 of the Anti-Corruption Act No. 3 of 2012.
Nkhuwa faces two additional counts and Okello one count of corrupt practices, contrary to Section 19 of the same law.
Meanwhile, Baines, 35, of Plot No. 5016 in the Low Density area, has been charged with two counts of corrupt practices with a public officer, while Mwape, 41, of the same residential area, faces one count under Section 19(2) of the Act.
In the first count, Nkhuwa and Okello are alleged to have, between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2025, in Mkushi District, while serving as public officers at the Mkushi DEBS office, jointly and with other unknown persons, corruptly facilitated the awarding of a contract to Ichikwanka Multi-Purpose Cooperative despite the entity not meeting the required standards to supply goods to the government.
In the second count, it is alleged that during the same period the two officials received money as gratification linked to the same contract.
Nkhuwa allegedly received K34,200 from Baines and K24,470 from Mwape, while Okello allegedly received K42,950 from Baines.
“The money was an inducement or reward for facilitating the award of the contract to Ichikwanka Multi-Purpose Cooperative, where Dennis Charles Baines is Chairperson and Joseph Mwape is Secretary,” Chisanga said.
According to ACC, Baines is alleged to have given Nkhuwa K34,200 and Okello K42,950 between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, 2025 as gratification.
Mwape is alleged to have given Nkhuwa K24,470 during the same period.
Investigations established that the payments were allegedly made as inducements to the DEBS officials for awarding Ichikwanka Multi-Purpose Cooperative a contract to supply more than 350 bags of beans weighing 50 kg each.
The contract was valued at K1,073,000 despite the cooperative not meeting the required government supply standards.
“The four suspects have since been released on bond and will appear in court soon. The arrests concern the misuse of funds under the School Feeding Programme in the Ministry of Education,” she said.
Chisanga reiterated the Commission’s warning to public service workers against engaging in corrupt practices, particularly in programmes that benefit vulnerable groups such as learners.
She said abuse of office and betrayal of public trust would not be tolerated and would be met with the full force of the law.
“The Commission remains resolute and vigilant and will relentlessly pursue, investigate and prosecute all offenders, regardless of their status in society,” Chisanga assured.
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